The Old Testament Canon

“The Bible of the Jews is the exact same content material as that which we refer to as the Old Testament in our Protestant Bibles today, the only difference being the way in which the books are numbered and gathered (the 24 Jewish books correspond exactly to our 39). It is the same content Jesus affirmed.

The Apostle Paul, as a first century Jew, was entirely familiar with the books the Hebrews recognized as holy Scripture. Rather than suggesting that “Israel got the book contents mostly right” or “there were one or two books that should have been recognized but were not” – under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit he wrote in very clear terms, “the Jews were entrusted with the oracles of God.” (Rom 3:2). Studies of canonicity concerning both the Old and New Testaments, rather than filling our minds with doubt and skepticism actually do the opposite. We can have great assurance that the books we have in our Bibles are the exact ones that God in His sure, guiding providence, intended us to have.” – John Samson

WHAT BOOKS MADE UP THE OLD TESTAMENT CANON?

In an excerpt from an article in Credo Magazine entitled “How did we get the Old Testament” Paul G. Wegner writes:

It is sometimes difficult for us to realize that our Bible did not come to us as one book but rather as a collection of books written over about fifteen hundred years. These books are called the TaNaK, referring to Torah (Law), Nebi?im (Prophets), and Kethubim (Writings), and are divided as follows:

LAW (Torah)

Genesis Exodus Leviticus Numbers Deuteronomy

PROPHETS (Nebi’im)

The Former Prophets: Joshua Judges Samuel Kings

The Latter Prophets: Isaiah Jeremiah Ezekiel The Book of the Twelve (Minor Prophets)

WRITINGS (Kethubim)

Poetic Books: Psalms Job Proverbs

Five Scrolls (Megilloth): Ruth Song of Solomon Ecclesiastes Lamentations Esther

Historical Books: Daniel Ezra-Nehemiah Chronicles

This three-fold division of the Old Testament can be traced as far back as the Prologue to Ecclesiasticus dated to about 132 B.C. When addressing his disciples, Jesus used similar terminology for the Old Testament: “Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms” (Luke 24:44). The designation “Psalms” here most likely refers to the entire third section of the Old Testament since it is the first and largest book of that part.

The Jewish nation considered only thirty-nine books to be canonical (the Protestant canon reflects this as well).

The early Christian church, whose roots were in the Jewish nation, initially used the same canon (cf. Rom. 1:2) and read it in light of Christ’s coming. Indeed, New Testament writers quote from almost every Old Testament book. Jesus seemed clear about what constituted the Old Testament canon, stating in Luke 11:49- 51:

For this reason also the wisdom of God said, “I will send unto them prophets and apostles, and some of them they will kill and some they will persecute, so that this generation may be held responsible for the blood of all the prophets, shed since the foundation of the world, from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who was killed between the altar and the sanctuary; yes, I tell you, it shall be charged against this generation” (cf. Matt. 23:34-36)

The Jewish nation will be held responsible for killing God’s prophets and rejecting their message. But Jesus puts a limit on the revelation for which they will be held responsible, namely from the blood of righteous Abel (Gen. 4) to the blood of Zechariah (2 Chron. 24). Notice that means he does not hold them responsible for revelation past 2 Chronicles which is the last book in the Hebrew Old Testament. Thus Jesus appears to hold to the same canon, even in the same order, as the Jewish nation.

Later the New Testament books were added to the Old Testament to constitute the Christian canon. Jesus recognized the authority of the Hebrew Old Testament and taught his disciples to reverence it. Jesus often condemned the teachings of the Jewish scribes and Pharisees, and used the Old Testament to point out errors in their teaching.

Paul D. Wegner (Ph.D. Kings College, University of London) is Professor of Old Testament Studies at Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary. He is the author of The Journey from Texts to Translations: The Origin and Development of the Bible and A Student’s Guide to Textual Criticism: Its History, Methods, and Results

Why the 66 Books?

There are 66 books in the Bible. Taken together, these are known as the canon1 of divine revelation. They were written over a period of around two thousand years by about forty different writers. However, just one author inspired them—God. But how can we be sure that these 66 books are the only inspired Scriptures, no more or less?

The Old Testament

The ancient Hebrews had a clearly defined body of Scriptures. The Word of God was recognized from the very beginning, and there was no doubt which books belonged. The Jews did not arrange their books in the same way as Christians do, however, and some books were combined. But the content was the same. No more or less.

Evidence within the Bible indicates that most of the books of the Old Testament were written at the time of the events they record, and they were accepted as God’s Word at the time the words were given. Historical records outside the Bible reinforce this conclusion.

Jesus verified that the Old Testament writings were always Scripture when He quoted from the Old Testament and claimed, “It is written” (Matthew 4:4, 7, 10) and “Scripture cannot be broken” (John 10:35, NIV). Paul had no doubt that the Jews were “entrusted with the very words [the oracles] of God” (Romans 3:2, NIV). Modern-day theologian Carl F. H. Henry wisely concluded, “The church inherited the Old Testament, and Jesus defended, encouraged and exemplified faithful submission to these writings as an inspired canon.”2

A famous Jewish council met at Jamnia around AD 100. Its purpose was not, as is often erroneously suggested, to decide which books would be included among the sacred writings for the Jews. The purpose was which books were already accepted.3 The council had access to the same Old Testament canon that we have today.

The New Testament

Evidence within the Bible supports the conclusion that most of the New Testament was written by AD 70, while the writings of John came a little later.4 Most of the books name the author, and all the books give other helpful clues, which the book of Acts helps us to date more accurately.

Several statements in the Bible indicate that the New Testament would be written by apostles or approved by them. Peter called Paul’s writings “scripture” (2 Peter 3:16), and Paul said he and other apostles spoke “the word of God” (1 Thessalonians 2:13).

Before the close of the first century, Clement of Rome either quoted from or referred to more than half the New Testament books and called them “scripture.” By AD 180, Irenaeus of Lyons quoted over 1,000 passages from all but a handful of the New Testament books, calling them “holy Scriptures” given by the Holy Spirit. At the same time, Tertullian from North Africa referred to the “New Testament” and expounded on most of it. Origen from Alexandria in AD 240 referred to our 27 books as Scripture, and Athanasius used the same list in AD 367.5 They used no other books in the same way.

It is certain that by the early second century, the four Gospels (and never any others) and the thirteen letters of Paul were accepted by the churches across the Roman Empire without question.

Up to the year AD 180, all our New Testament books (with the single exception of 2 Peter) are found in either direct quotations or allusions in the writings of the leaders of the churches. By this year, a few churches hesitated over James, Jude, 2 and 3 John, 2 Peter, Hebrews, and Revelation; but all the rest were universally accepted. The church leaders never used noncanonical books with the same authority as the New Testament books.

The Muratorian Canon, originally compiled around AD 150, is our earliest documented evidence of a body of books that was identified as the New Testament canon of Scripture. It contains all but four of our New Testament books, though the only surviving copy from the eighth century is in poor condition and is missing parts. No council was ever called to debate the contents of the canon—it was almost universally recognized for what it was, the Word of God.

Why did it take so long for the list of the New Testament canon to show up?

The apostles did not leave us with a neat list of authoritative books.

No scroll could contain all the books, and the process of making books (called codices) did not become popular in the Roman Empire until the fourth century.6

The churches were widely scattered across the Roman Empire and beyond, from Britain to North Africa and east into Persia. Early Christians were still facing persecution and could not easily meet together.

Even though no one church or leader had authority to dictate to the others, it is amazing that close to AD 150 the Muratorian Canon could list all but four of our New Testament books.

Many deceivers wrote false gospels and letters, pretending that they were written by the apostles. But the early church leaders dismissed them as counterfeit and unreliable.7 The false gospels and letters betrayed themselves by their late date of composition—well beyond the time of the apostles—and by their teaching, which clearly conflicted with the canonical books and the accepted doctrines of the churches.

Conclusion
History reinforces our confidence that God gave us His entire Word and preserved it for us, as He said He would. We have precisely the books that God planned from eternity—66 books in all.

Footnotes
1. This comes from the Greek word ????? (kanon) which means “reed.” It came to mean “ruler” or “measuring stick” and later had the idea of a “recognized authority.” In the fourth century the church began to use it to mean “the accepted list of books of inspired Scripture.”
2. Carl F. H. Henry, God, Revelation and Authority, Vol. 4 (Carlisle: Paternoster, 1999), p. 407.
3. This is now widely accepted. See for example R. Beckwith, The Old Testament Canon of the New Testament Church (London: SPCK, 1985), p.276. Also A. Bentzen, Introduction to the Old Testament, Vol. 1 (Copenhagen, 1948), p. 31. Bruce Metzger, The Canon of the New Testament (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1987), p. 110. John Wenham, Christ and the Bible (London: Tyndale Press, 1972), pp.138–139.
4. This is the general evangelical position, but John A. T. Robinson, who was not an evangelical, in his detailed scholarly book, placed the entire New Testament before AD 70. Redating the New Testament (London: S.C.M. Press, 1976).
5. Athanasius was also the first to use the word canon for the body of New Testament books.
6. Our earliest nearly complete single-volume New Testament in Greek—Codex Sinaiticus from the mid-fourth century—measures 16 by 14 inches and contains 694 pages.
7. These are called pseudepigrapha (from Greek words meaning “false writings”).

Source: https://answersingenesis.org/the-word-of-god/why-66/

Concerning the Canon

Sola Scriptura, and Rome: Dr. Michael Kruger on the Dividing Line

From the archives back in January, Dr. James White writes, “Today (1/7/2014) I was joined by Dr. Michael Kruger, President of Reformed Theological Seminary in Charlotte, North Carolina. Dr. Kruger has written numerous books that are high on our “you must read this book” list, such as Canon Revisited and The Question of Canon; he likewise contributed to and edited The Heresy of Orthodoxy and The Early Text of the New Testament. Our visit was prompted by a phone call made by a Lutheran to Catholic Answers Live back on 10/31/13. We played the entire call before the program started, and we played the heart of the call, where the Roman Catholic priest made the key assertions about canon and scriptural authority, during the interview with Dr. Kruger. We covered a wide variety of topics relevant to the canon issue. Truly one of the most useful programs we’ve ever done! Enjoy and learn!”